The Race
by Fragmentary Blue
Summary: This story is about Haruka from SM and I think the title just about gives the summary of the story. This is a Haruka that I role play with in an Alternate Realities game so shes not exactly the same as the one in the real series.


Haruka pushed her foot firmly against the gas pedal forcing the sleek car to fly even faster over the asphalt of the track

Haruka pushed her foot firmly against the gas pedal forcing the sleek car to fly even faster over the asphalt of the track. Both of her gloved hands gripped the steering wheel and deep blue eyes darted everywhere, watching for possible threats and potential openings that could further her cause. There were less than three laps left in the race and she was still in sixth place. She moved up to fifth place a few seconds later as she sped easily past car number 11. She continued on as she came quickly upon another car, which was smack in the middle of the track. She lifted up off of the gas just a little as she came dangerously close to the back of car number 12. In the next instant she had veered sharply to the left and slammed on the gas shooting past Number 12 much to the annoyance of its driver who, despite his best efforts, couldn't catch up. A slight grin played on her lips as the shape of the car became smaller in her mirror and she again turned her attention to the more pressing situation in front of her. There was not much farther left to go and she couldn't afford to stay in fourth place for much longer. She was going to have to start making some good moves now or she was going to be insured of a loss. And losing was not something she was good at. She wasn't going to botch this one up. She couldn't; not after all of the hard work and training she had gone through to be able to be in this race.

Lots of people had been against her participating and she was going to prove to them that she could do it just as well as they could. 

"I don't think a girl is able enough to be in a contest like this coach. You should rethink your decision to let her race."

"Yeah coach, don't you think that one of us would be better suited for this one? I mean, who really ever heard of a girl being a race car driver. I think she'll botch it up big time."

She shook the memory out of her head. She wasn't going to let them get the best of her. Her coach had seen the talent in her and had not kept her off the track simply because she was a woman. She was going to rise above all of the trouble she had gone through to get here. Today was hers and she was going to make the most of it. She would show them what a girl could really do. The clock was ticking and there was only a lap and a half left before the end of the race. 

Focusing her attention on the track in front of her, she pulled up behind cars seven and 19. They were riding side by side and taking up the entire width of the track. How very annoying. This was going to be very tricky. She was going to have to find some way to sneak in between them or to somehow get one of them to move out of the way. Haruka racked her brain for several seconds until she remembered that her coach had told her that the driver of Number 7 was nervous when it came to being tailed. For once she was glad that he made her do lots of research on the other drivers. She grinned lightly and moved as closely as she could to his back while still not touching his car. 

Nothing seemed to happen at first but after a few moments the car began to move over towards car 19 forcing it to run along the inner rim of the track. The second that there was enough room between car seven and the wall she gunned it and was just able to squeeze through before they tried to box her out again. Haruka grinned, silently celebrating her small victory as she sped forward to the last challenge that stood in her way, car Number 5. 

As it came into her sights she set herself on defensive mode because she knew that this particular driver was not someone to be trifled with. He was one of the rougher drivers, who didn't mind a little damage to his car, so long as he won the race. She was going to have to be very careful in dealing with him. She continued to move forward until she was very close to the back of the other car. She tried to maneuver around him, to get between him and the wall, but the driver would have none of it and moved in front of her. She moved to the other side again trying to go around via the other way but again he blocked her passage. She continued to try this tactic for awhile longer until Haruka had had enough of playing around. She faked a move to the right and when he went to block her quickly swerved to the left slipping into the space between the car and the inner side of the track. The other driver did not seem to appreciate this very much and he slammed his car into the side of hers, sending her car half way off the track. The move nearly caught her off guard and would have proved to be very bad if she had not known what to do. She had to jerk the wheel hard to get the car under control and all four wheels back on the track. She managed this rather quickly, but it had still caused her to fall behind and she had to make a desperate run to catch up with the leader. 

Just then she passed the finish line, which marked that there was only one more lap left to go. Despite this she barely noticed the line over which she was passing. She was extremely angry at the moment and hell bent on beating car five. She wasn't going to stand for this kind of rudeness. She looked behind her and saw that there was no chance of the other cars catching up to them now. This was a good thing because now she could completely concentrate on number five. She pushed her car harder than ever and was able to catch up with him very quickly. Pulling up behind him she rode less than an inch from his tail despite knowing that if he stopped that she would be in some deep trouble. After a few seconds she worked her way towards the inner side of the track again and fought her way back in beside him. He slammed up against her again trying to push her over as much as he could to force her off the track. His tactic would have worked, only this time she fought back. She wasn't going to let him push her around any longer. She gripped the steering wheel hard with both hands and firmly pulled it to the right and held it there as best as she could. She pushed back against him forcing him up into the middle of the track and as he moved so did she, gaining valuable lost ground. He finally gave up on trying to push her off the track and concentrated on keeping just slightly ahead of her. 

As they came into the straightway she concentrated all of her energy on gaining more and more ground. This was not the easiest thing to do, considering that the other driver was doing everything he could to stay in the lead. Even though he wasn't that far in front of her she got a sinking feeling that she wouldn't be able to catch up with him in time. 

Even if he was less than an inch in front of her he would still win, and she couldn't allow that. Her brow furrowed and she frowned deeply. She couldn't afford to loose now, not when she was this close. She had to many people depending on her to let that happen. Her aunt and her cousins were out in the crowd rooting for her, and she couldn't let them down. She focused her eyes forward and pressed down as hard as possible on the pedal feeling it sink in just slightly. Her car began to slowly inch forward, coming to rest at the same speed as car five. A defiant grin spread over her face as she finally caught up with him. The two cars hurtled together down the last ends of the track as the excited crowd looked on in a tense silence. The finish line was only moments away and Haruka shut her eyes and silently prayed that she would cross it first. In the next moment she reopened her eyes and saw a pattern of black and white checkers fill her vision and she knew to slow the car down. When she had stopped she slipped out of the car, her hands shaking lightly. She still didn't know who had won. She stood there and listened to the announcer come over the loud speaker. 

"It's going to be a photo finish folks. We'll be right back with the results." Every one in the stadium remained deathly quiet in the few moments that followed. To Haruka they seemed to drag on forever until the announcer finally came back.

"We've gone over the pictures and tapes and have determined the winner. The first to cross the finish line was car number three driven by Haruka Tenou!" The crowd was silent for a few moments more before bursting out into cheers. Her coach and pit crew ran over and congratulated her on a job well done. She smiled from ear to ear feeling better than she ever had before.


End file.
